This is something relatively new to me and Osprey. It is one of their selection of E-books. These seem to be the coming thing for some people. I will admit to being old fashioned and prefer my books to be analog, especially as I spend so much time staring at a computer screen, but there is a growing demand for E-books and Osprey is accommodating that demand.

This particular book is on Modeling the Panzer IV Ausf J (late) and follows a lot of the Osprey Modeling books' tried and true formats. It starts with a few pages of historical background. This is followed by the usual tools and materials section that seems to be part of the series' requirements. It then goes into depth on the building of the cover tank. As usual, there is a table at the beginning of the build that lists all of the kits and aftermarket bits and pieces that went into the making of the model in question, and it is a rather extensive list.

Then we get a blow by blow and photo by photo build of the tank. In line with all of Osprey's modeling titles, this book has a lot of very nicely done photographs of the build while it is in progress so the reader can see exactly what was done while making the model. This includes an extensive section on painting and weathering the tank and the tracks.

This build is followed by three other gallery selections of other variants of the Panzer IV. Then there is information on museums that have Panzer IVs as well as a nicely done bibliography section. It ends with a section on available kits and accessories as well as a page of color chips.

Those who have many of Osprey's modeling books will wonder at why only one major build. Well, it seems that this will be the norm for the modeling books on-line and frankly, considering how inexpensive these titles are, I think it is a great deal for the money.

If this sort of book interests you, I recommend visiting www.ospreypublishing.com and clicking on the 'EBOOKS STORE' button on the left side. There are a variety of titles in there, some of which you may well find interesting.

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for providing this one for review.

May 2012

For more on the complete line of Osprey books, visit www.ospreypublishing.com.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.